Legion of Super-Heroes: Millennium #2 // Review
Brian Michael Bendis’ tour of the various futures of the DC Universe continues with the second issue of Legion of Super-Heroes: Millennium. Marginally more successful than the first, this issue still suffers from many of the same problems that plagued the miniseries’ debut.
In this issue, the immortal Rose and Thorn continue their (her?) journey through a series of individual unconnected scenes. The first sees Rose meet one Michael John Carter as she visits the museum where he works, laying the seeds of inspiration that will eventually lead him to become Booster Gold. In the second, Thorn has an encounter with OMAC in the World That’s Coming. The third sequence is a dreamlike story of Rose and Thorn trading places as they try to journey through space, away from the baggage of Earth. The final act sees the titular Legion of Super-Heroes form in the 31st (or is it 32nd?) Century, just in time for Rose to introduce herself to them.
As in the first issue, each vignette is drawn by a different artist, and the art is exceptional here. Nicola Scott’s art is always terrific, and her work on the Booster Gold section is no exception. Her facial expressions and body language are hilarious, appropriate to the characters and situation of the scene. Jim Cheung depicts the post-apocalyptic OMAC sequence with proper grit. Jeff Dekal’s work on the space sequence is painterly and reminiscent of Alex Ross. Ryan Sook’s art in the final scene is a great preview of what to expect from the upcoming Legion of Super-Heroes series, which he and Bendis will be launching next month. Colorists Tomeu Morey and Jordie Bellaire and letterer Dave Sharpe do excellent work tying the four disparate vignettes together.
Unfortunately, as with the first issue, Bendis’ writing fails to support the terrific art. Rose and Thorn is such an obscure character from the DC pantheon, and Bendis fails to really build a fleshed-out, well-rounded character out of her. As in the first issue, the individual stories lack any cohesion. Only on the very last page is there even a hint of a through-line for the series. Because of the main character’s split personality, it’s difficult to see what growth, if any, she’s had over the thousand years covered in the two issues. Whatever information she has for the Legion seems like it could have just as easily been a part of the first issues of that series, so this book’s reason for being is somewhat unclear.
Legion of Super-Heroes: Millennium #2 is like cotton-candy--there’s some great art here, and it’s nice to see a bunch of DC’s future characters. But there’s really no substance to this seemingly disposable series.
